The Sentinel
by scottsman
Summary: one day a school Tori's senses go into overdrive,and a mysterious boy about her own age arrives to help her. but when her friends are threatend buy a deranged professional criminal and her men will Tori's new found gifts be enough?
1. Chapter 1

Tori Vega walked out to join her friends for lunch at their usual table. She ordered her usual sandwich and sat down in her usual chair but today was to be no usual day. She took a bite of her sandwich and just about choked.

"How much pepper is in this sandwich?" she said sputtering and pushing sandwich away. Beck picked up the remainder of the sandwich and took a bite from the uneaten end.

"Tori," he said, wrinkling his forehead, "I hardly tasted any pepper at all."

"Are you kidding," said Tori, "I can smell it from here." Jade took a bite of the sandwich

"Beck's right," she said, "it just tastes like a regular Turkey lettuce and tomato on wheat with salt pepper and light mayo." Still shaking her head Tori got up and went to the bathroom to rinse her mouth out. Just as she was finishing she caught a whiff of smoke. When she glanced down at the floor something strange happened. Her eyes sighted through a small crack in the floor and she found looking at pile of old rags in the janitor's closet one floor down. As she watched the rags burst into flame thanks to the sparks from the badly frayed electrical cord belonging to the janitor's hot plate. Her sight returned to normal and Tori raced down the stairs to the janitor's closet. Grabbing a fire extinguisher of the wall she kicked the door open and put out the fire before anything other than the rags got burned.

Psycowitz and the rest of Tori's friends came running in.

"Way to go Tori," said Andre, "You probably just saved the school!"

"How did you know," said Psycowitz

"Well I saw- I mean I, oh forget it," said Tori, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

#

Tori sat in her room trying to make some sense out of what had happened that day in school. "What's happening to me?" she thought. Suddenly she was jarred out of her thoughts by the sound of Trina on the phone.

"But Mr. Carter," she was saying, "I'd be perfect for that part are you sure you'd rather have Shaquille O'Neil play the part of Bigfoot in Bigfoot's revenge!"

Tori snickered,

"Trina really is desperate, and I don't even want to know how she got the personal phone number of big producer like Jackson Carter." She said to herself. When Tori walked down the stairs she suddenly realized that Trina wasn't anywhere in the house. Her dad was behind the kitchen counter sticking a homemade pizza in the oven.

"Dad," she said, "Where's Trina?"

"She ran out of here an hour ago to go to Mario's that Italian restaurant." Said her dad Tori didn't answer she just ran back up the stairs to her room

"What is happening to me," she said, "Trina makes a phone call sitting at a restaurant three blocks away and I hear it from here?" Tori began to pace the floor just as she stopped by the sliding glass balcony door and was turning to go the other way she was stunned to see a black Leopard sitting on the balcony looking her square in the eyes. She blinked her eyes in place of the leopard there stood a tall dark haired boy about her own age.

"Miss Vega, My name is Zachariah Stone," he said, "and I can explain what's happening to you, what's going on with your senses." Tori opened the door and the boy walked in.

"So what's going on with me," said Tori, "it's like my senses have been going crazy!"

"Tori," he said calmly, "You're a Sentinel."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Tori stared at the boy in disbelief.

"I'm a what –inel?" She said

"You're a Sentinel," repeated the boy, "Part of an ancient race of men and women who are gifted with a sensory awareness that is heightened far beyond that of a normal human being. "

"How do you know this?" asked Tori

"Because I'm a sentinel too," said Zachariah, "like you I have super powerful senses."

"But, how did you know I was a sentinel," asked Tori, "we've never met before tonight?" the boy smiled and motioned toward the balcony.

"Just a few seconds ago when I first appeared on you balcony you saw a black leopard instead of me right?"

"Yeah," said Tori, "how'd you know?"

"That's my animal sign," Replied Zachariah, "every sentinel that has ever existed has had one. Only a sentinel can see it. It identifies us to each other."

"You mean I have one too?" asked Tori. Zachariah nodded

"The first time that I saw you, I saw a jaguar. That's how I knew that you were a sentinel." Tori sank onto her bed trying to wrap her mind around what she had just been told. Zachariah remained silent and waited patiently for her to speak again.

"What does a sentinel do?" she asked finally breaking the silence

"Throughout their history sentinels have used their heightened senses to protect the people around them their people so to speak. In other words your job is to use your gift to protect your friends when necessary." Said Zachariah

"How am I suppose to protect my friends," said Tori, "I don't know how to fight."

"That's why I'm here," said Zachariah, "I can teach everything you need to know." Tori cocked her head slightly.

"What are you not telling me?" she asked looked Zachariah straight in his soulful blue eyes. For a moment Zachariah looked like he had been caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar. Them his normally squared shoulders sagged a little and he gave a slightly guilty smile.

"Tori you're the first sentinel, other than myself, that I've met. I want to teach you because you need to know and because I wanted to spare you the fear and confusion that I went through when my sentinel gift emerged. I learned everything I know about being a sentinel from the writings on the walls of the various sentinel enclaves."

"Sentinel enclaves?" asked Tori

"Sentinel secret places located all over the world." Said Zachariah

"There's a lot to learn," he said, holding out his hand, "will you let me teach you?" Tori looked down at the boys hand then back up again into his earnest face. She smiled and gripped his hand.

"Teach me."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Three weeks had gone by since Tori and Zachariah met. Tori had amazed and frightened herself with how fast she had become dangerously good at fighting. Karate had come easily to her. Zachariah had explained that her heightened senses gave her heightened reflexes. It was true she was so quick that she could literally dodge bullets when necessary.

Now he was taking her to a sentinel enclave. He led her to a stone caldera formation on the coastline it basically looked like a giant stone funnel when the tide came in the waves crashed through the narrow opening at the bottom and exploded thirty feet in to the air. This phenomenon was so violent it had earned the spot the name Devil's Cauldron.

Tori had been there before but this time the tide was going out. Once the tide was out the water subsided to a small gurgle. Zachariah motioned for Tori to follow him and he led her down a narrow path between the rock and the bank that appeared when the tide had gone out. They went down the path about forty yards and came to the entrance of a cave. Entering the cave they walked back into the hill about a quarter of a mile. First they went up a hill then down a hill. Then they entered an open cavern. Carved out of the stone wall on the other side of the room was what appeared to be an ancient temple of some sort.

When they entered the temple Tori found that it was lit by crystals that glowed brightly with their own inner light. On the wall above the door way to the inner chamber there was a drawing of human most of the body was an outline but the eyes nose ears mouth and hands were intricately detailed and above it was an inscription and a language she had never seen before and yet could read. It said, "we see before others see, we hear before others hear, we sense what others cannot."

When they entered the inner chamber they saw a large rectangular pool of water with carved stone steps leading down into it. When Tori saw the steam rising off of the water she realized that she was looking at a natural hot spring.

The pool was lined with crystals and as Zachariah tapped each one of them they began to glow. As the light stuck the wall more writing began to appear as the letters began to fluoresce. After all the crystals were lit Zachariah walked over to a stone table near one end of the pool on the table was a collection of clay jars. Sitting a smaller jar with a wide mouth on the table in front of him he took a clay ladle and began dipping differ herb powders out of the other larger jars. When he was done he shook the little jar and time or two to mix up the ingredients then poured it into the water of the pool. Finishing this he looked up at Tori.

"I hope you brought a bathing suit," like I told you to." Tori nodded and pulled off her shirt and shorts to reveal the bathing suit that she had on. Zachariah went behind a tall rock at the other end of the room and came back wearing a pair of red swimming trunks.

"Alright," he said, "What I have mixed up for you today is a special mineral bath that will bring your senses to full power and help you balance them." Tori descended the steps cautiously and entered the waist deep warm water. Zachariah stepped in behind her. They both lay down on their backs in the warm water and relaxed.

"How long do we stay in here?" asked Tori

"Until the water turns from cloudy to clear," replied Zachariah, "usually about ten minutes." Tori closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth of the water. She was feeling very relaxed for the first five minutes. Then she reached up to scratch her nose and realized that her hands were glowing.

Tori jumped to her feet and looked at her reflection her entire body was fluorescing and her eyes were glowing with an eerie blue-green light.

"Zachariah!" she cried feeling panicky, she looked over and saw Zachariah was glowing the same way.

"Don't be afraid," said Zachariah in soothing tones, "this looks a little spooky I know but it's completely harmless it just means that the bath is working it will go away once the bath is over."

#

When Tori arrived back at Hollywood arts the next day, she was met with exiting news. Beck had manage to get them VIP passes for a party at Crystal lake a secretive exclusive resort were only major celebrities and the super rich usually hung out. Little did Tori know that this little party would turn out be a night they would never forget.

TBC

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	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Tori and her friends arrived at Crystal Lake, piled out of the car and eagerly looked around. It was a beautiful place. The resort lodge was on a small peninsula that that surrounded on three sides by the beautiful Crystal Lake.

The lake certainly lived up to its name. The water was crystal clear. After exploring the resort from the swimming pool to the day spa the kids decided to get ready for the party. They all went back to the rooms that had been rented for them to use as changing rooms and began putting on their dress clothes.

After about fifteen minutes of fussing around trying to get her high heels adjusted she finally jerked them off and threw them back into her back with a disgusted snort and a vow to tie Trina's ponytail around her ankles if she borrowed her shoes again without permission.

Fortunately she had brought a nice pair of black dress boots that when just fine with the red dress she was wearing. She put them on and headed for the party.

#

The party was in full swing. Jade and Cat were up on stage doing Karaoke, Robbie was stuffing himself at the buffet table, Andre had struck up a conversation with a girl he had met, and Tori was left standing there talking to Beck.

Just the song ended and Tori and Beck turned to applaud a waiter who was passing by tripped and spilled the dish of cocktail sauce that he was carrying all over Tori's arm. The waiter jumped up and began to apologize profusely. Tori assured him that there were no hard feelings, and headed toward the bathroom to wash her arm off.

Tori stood at the sink in the ladies room washing self off as best she could. Suddenly she stopped, freezing in mid-rinse. Outside the ballroom in the hallway somewhere someone had chambered a round on a .45 automatic followed by the same thing on what sounded like several Mac 10s. A split second later she heard the door of the ballroom being kicked open, shots being fired and several girls screaming.

The repeats of this scenario happening all over the resort echoed in Tori's ears. Then she heard a feminine voice.

"All right," she said, "Everyone just be good and you won't get hurt! Jesse," the feminine voice barked, "Check the bathrooms we don't want anyone to miss the party!" as soon as Tori heard footsteps coming toward the bathroom her sentinel instincts took over. Glancing around the room she spotted a small alcove up near the ceiling that concealed an air vent.

Dashing into the stall directly under the alcove, and up onto the top of the toilet she pulled herself up into the alcove so fast that she impressed herself. As the gunman came into the bathroom Tori edged herself as far back into the shadows of the alcove as she could. The gunman stalked from one end of the bathroom to the other checking all the stalls.

Tori had to stifle a snicker when the gunman even took the time to look through the narrow slit in the wall under the towel dispenser where the waste towels went.

"_You've got to be kidding,"_ thought Tori the gunman, who was wearing an ear-wick, spoke.

"Bathrooms clear boss," with that he crossed the room to the door and disappeared. Tori could hear his footsteps retreating down the hall.

Tori poked her head out of the bathroom door. When she was sure the coast was clear she started down the darkened hallway. It was almost pitch black in the mysterious back hallway she was in. but her eyes were so efficient at amplifying existing light that it was like having built in night vision goggles. At the end of the hallway she emerged into the kitchen and her vision returned to normal. Tori crossed the room and slipped out the service entrance. Once outside she headed toward the archery range knowing that the bows and arrows were kept in the shed there. When she got near the shed she saw that it was being guarded by a mountain of a man who couldn't have been less that 6'9" Tori's heart sank. How was she supposed to get by him? She felt the rocks she was standing on and had an idea's reaching down she tore a strip of material from the bottom of her skirt. Picking the largest smooth stone she could find she fitted it in her make shift sling. Edging closer to the giant of a man she stopped and gave a low whistle. As soon as he turned to look she slung the stone striking her "Goliath" in the forehead knocking him cold.

Stepping over the unconscious hulk she jimmied the lock on the door. Once inside she selected a bow and some arrows. Stepping out of the building with a bow in her hand and a quiver full of arrows on her back she said,

"Now it's time to see what a sentinel can do."

TBC

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	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Beck, Jade, Andre, Robbie, and Cat huddled in the corner of the room as the armed men worked their way down the rows of terrified millionaires. Grabbing and Taking jewelry, watches, wallets, and anything else of value that they could find. Cat was whimpering softly in fear and for once in her life Jade looked scared too.

Meanwhile…,

Tori moved through the shadows near the main building. As she got near the door, her super-sensitive ears picked voices coming from up on the roof.

"Wake up you idiot," the first man said shaking the second man, "we're supposed to be guarding this scrambler, Chelsea doesn't want anybody to be able to use their cell phones, radios or anything else to call the cops before Deke and the others get into the vault!"

"Don't worry, Boots," said the other guy, "Chelsea's got all the bases covered, What could go wrong?"

"Chelsea is the boss because she's smart, doesn't take chances and is 6 kinds of crazy, Evans. Do you really want to be the person who has to admit to Chelsea that she got screwed out of 5,000,000.00 in bearer bonds because you fell asleep at your post?"

"You're right, she'd kill me." Said Evans as she heard the sounds of Evans scrambling to his feet, Tori suddenly became aware of a familiar scent. Turning in the direction of the scent she saw a pair of black leopard eyes that instantly became human As Zachariah Stone approached.

"Zach," Tori whispered giving him a one armed hug. "I have never been so happy to see anybody."

"You've been doing great," said Zach

"Thanks," whispered Tori she pointed toward the roof, "They've got some sort of electronic scrambler up there that's blocking all cell phone signals."

"I know," said Zach, "I heard. I'll deal with the scrambler, Tori you get in position to help the hostages, I got a feeling that all Hades is going to break loose when that scrambler goes." Tori nodded

Tori started to move then suddenly stopped.

"Hey," she said, "how did you know to come here tonight?"

Zach nodded toward the lake.

"My parents own a cabin on the other side of the lake," he said, "I was there for the night and just happen to look over here and see what was going on. Oh incidentally I got a look at their leader and I ran a background check on her before I came over. Her name is Chelsea Anne McCabe she's a career criminal out of Detroit. She escaped from Jail two weeks ago. According to local newspaper her plan is to make a big score and skip the country. "

Tori nodded, and began move away again.

"Let's throw a monkey Wrench into their plans."

Zach concealed himself in the shadows and waited until he heard a low whistle. It was Tori signaling she was in place.

Tori had concealed herself in the Darkness of the hallway outside the room where the hostages were being held. Her supersensitive ears could hear everything going on in the room.

"What is taking those guys so long!" said Chelsea getting more and more agitated. "they should've gotten into the vault by now!'

"They'll let us know when they are," said one of her lieutenants trying to calm her down. Even her own men were afraid of her when she began to lose her cool. Suddenly just as Chelsea seemed to be settling down there was a loud boom and a fire ball appeared atop one nearby building Chelsea's radio crackled.

"Chelsea we just lost the scrambler!"

"WHAT!" thundered Chelsea flying into a rage, "How could this_," she stopped in mid-sentence as a look of realization flashed across her face.

"There's someone else here," she said looking at her men, "someone that you missed. Well were going to show this guy the price for messing with us."

Chelsea scanned the room until her eyes fell on Cat.

"Her," she said, "You know what to do." The Merc strode across the room and seized Cat by the arm. Beck jump up to try and stopped him and was clubbed to the floor with the butt of a gun. The Merc dragged a screaming Cat from the room as she vainly tried to break his grip.

Once outside in the hallway he dragged her toward the door. Cat was still trying to get away when suddenly there was a thunk! And the man's grip went limp as he slumped to the floor. In the Darkness of the hallway Cat could just make out the shape of arrow jutting of the man's back right between his shoulder blades.

Cat almost screamed when another hand clamped over her mouth.

"Cat," came a whisper, "It's me Tori. Keep quiet." Tori took her hand away from Cat's mouth. Tori grabbed something off the floor with one hand and Cats hand with the other, then lead her outside.

When they got outside Cat could see that it really was Tori. And Tori had the dead killer's pistol in her hand. Cat guessed that was what she picked out off the floor.

"What are you going to do?" Cat asked as Tori stopped and chambered a round.

"This," said Tori, She raised pistol into the air and fired a shot. Inside the room Jade Beck Andre and Robbie all cringed when they heard the shot. The boy's faces went ashen and a lone tear ran down Jade's face.

Chelsea grinned in triumph. Not noticing two eyes that were watching her from the shadows outside the window.

"Enjoy your moment of 'Triump,' Psyco girl," said Tori under her breath, "soon you'll be face to face with your worst nightmare, Me."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

As Tori predicted, Chelsea's happiness was short lived when she heard the sound of police sirens approaching.

"Who called the Cops?!" she screamed waving her guns around.

"We've all these people's cell phones," said one of her men, "it couldn't have been anyone in this room!"

"Of course," she said, "Our mystery daredevil." Just then one of the other men who had been in the hallway came running in.

"Chelsea, we've got another problem." He said

"What now?" snapped Chelsea

"It's Hunter, the guy you sent out with the redhead, he's dead!" the henchman replied.

"Dead!" said Chelsea the man nodded I just found him in the hallway with an arrow in his back the girl was nowhere to be seen.

The other people in the room including Andre Beck Robbie and Jade all wished that they could hear what was being said. If they had they would have realized that Cat was still alive and well. Just then they heard the sound of a Police Negotiator talking through a megaphone.

"This is the police," he said, "We want to talk please answer your phone." Chelsea busted out one of the windows and yelled.

"You come any closer and I start killing hostages!" she pulled her head back in and grabbed her radio.

"Pack up we're getting out of here!" she barked.

"What about the 5 million?" said one of the gunmen named Thatcher.

"Forget about it," she snapped, "we'll be lucky just to get away with what we've got!" she pointed to the four Hollywood arts students.

"Bring, them," she said, "they're our insurance policy."

"Why Them?" Asked Thatcher

"Idiot," snapped Chelsea, "they're young they can travel faster."

Chelsea pulled out a map.

"We'll go up the old maintenance Road that goes up over the mountain behind this building there's an old emergency landing strip there on the other side of the ridge I'll radio and have a plane waiting for us when we get there. Now move!"

Little did Chelsea know all of this was being heard by the two Sentinels standing outside in the shadows.

"Looks like we've got her shook up enough to make a run for it!" said Zac

"Yeah," said Tori, "But what about my friends she's going to take them with her as hostages?!"

"We'll ambush Chelsea and what's left of her men on the trail." Said Zac. Tori nodded in agreement and suddenly her face widened into a smile.

"Zac," she said, grabbing his hand and dragging him of toward the pool house "That herb and mineral bath you made for us and the enclave do you have any of those ingredients with you?"

"Yeah," said Zac, "In my backpack, why?" Tori went on.

"Do you think you can make so that eerie glowing effect will last longer than ten minutes?"

Zac smiled as he finally caught on to what Tori had in mind.

"You want these termites to think that they've got a couple of real life boogie men after them!"

Tori grinned and a nodded. Tori and Zack headed for the Pool house, when they got there, Zac Grabbed his backpack and began to throw together the mixture as fast as he good while laid out the weapons they would need while Cat, who they had stashed at the pool house watched over their shoulders.

Zac threw the mixture into the Jacuzzi and the water immediately turned dark.

"All right Tori," he said, "It's ready."

Zac and Tori stood next to each other as they began to pull their clothes off. Zac already had his shirt off and was reaching for his pants when his eyes met Tori's and they stopped short.

A split second past before Zac said,

"Oh the Heck with it," and began pulling his pants off, "we don't have time to be embarrassed or modest!" he turned and stepped into the Jacuzzi in his boxer shorts.

Tori quickly followed suit and soon the two glowing Sentinels climbed out of the Jacuzzi and jumping back into their clothes took off after Chelsea and her crew.

By this time Chelsea and her crew had already forced the kids out the back door and were herding them at gunpoint toward the trail.

There are very few places as dark and foreboding as a dense forest in the middle of the night. Jade, Beck, Andre, and Robbie walked slowly stumbling along in the darkness. Just as Andre was getting up for the third time, there was a bloodcurdling scream from the gunman who was walking point on this little trip.

Chelsea drew her guns and pointed them at the tree line. The three men that she had left did the same. As the gunman and their hostages looked around they could barely believe what they were seeing. Back in the tree line there were two glowing figures that seemed to be moving around them appearing and disappearing.

Tori and Zac created this affect by darting from tree to tree.

"What are those things?" said Chelsea panic in her voice, "she began firing wildly into the trees. The two boogie men came charging at them. To the astonishment of Chelsea and her gang the bullets seemed to have no effect on them. Tori and Zac were using their heightened reflexes to zigzag between the bullets.

Launching off a log by the side of the trail Tori and Zac tackled Chelsea and her men. Zac jumped up and drove his foot into the stomach of one of the men and his fist into the nose of another. Tori swung the spear that Zac had given her and got both of the other men in the side of the head. Then she turned her attention on Chelsea. Chelsea grabbed for her gun but Tori jammed her heal down on Chelsea's hand hard enough to break bone. There was a sharp cracking sound and Chelsea screamed in pain but was silenced when Tori drove the spear handle into her head knocking her cold.

Tori then turned to her friends and found them still looking at her in fear.

"Guys," she said, "It's me Tori." Her friends all took a collective sigh of relief.

"What is all this," said Beck

"It's a long story," said Tori, "I'll fill you in on the way back home. By the way this is Zac a friend of mine."

"Wait a minute," said Jade getting angry, "I you two were capable of taking these guys out why didn't you do it before they killed Cat."

"Cat's not dead," said Zac, "We've got her stashed back at the pool house."

"Yeah," said Tori, "The guy that was supposed to kill her is the one that's dead."

By the time they got back to the pool house the police were there cleaning up the mess. Tori and Zac, whose appearance had returned to normal, told the cops where to find the rest of the gang. While the others were reunited with Cat at the pool house.

By the time they got back to Hollywood Tori had finished explaining her whole Sentinel situation. When Tori walked into her house with her friend there in the living was a huge painting on an easel in the middle of the room. The painting showed Tori standing guard on the raised band platform at the food court at Hollywood arts. In her hand was the spear she had used earlier that night. Tori's eyes in the painting stood out almost glowing.

The title card for the painting said, Tori Vega; Sentinel of Hollywood Arts.

Tori Smiled.

**The End**

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